Company Weekend

I love company!  Nothing makes me happier than having visitors, I don't care if it is fourteen people for Christmas dinner or one friend visiting for the weekend.  I am a nurturer. As an Italian/Cajun momma, I have an almost pathological need to feed you. Mangia! Sick? Let me bring you soup! Had a baby? Here is a couple of frozen casseroles! Someone dies? Pasta for your family. You get the picture.

Friday night I got my house ready for company: guest bed changed, room cleaned, floors swept and mopped, my house is smelling Fabuloso! It is now of course 9:00 PM and I still have not eaten.  Matt and Keely had Salmon Teriyaki packets from Schwans. Unfortunately, I really don't care for cooked salmon, sushi...yes, lox...yes, cooked salmon...no, so I did not eat with them. Off to Pinterest to find something quick and easy.  Here it is - Bacon Avocado Cups from Primally Inspired

Their picture looks so much prettier than mine.

This was probably one of the easiest things I have made in a while of course I took their recipe and adjusted it just a bit.

one avocado diced and removed from skin

2 slices of bacon, 

Monari Federzoni Balsamic Glaze drizzled over top

So yummy and perfect for that time of night. 

Saturday is company day!  My bestie and her wonderful husband arrive.  They meet with my Girl Scout troop. It was a wonderful presentation and my girls would have sat and listened for three hours instead of the one I scheduled.  My sister and her family then joined us for dinner.  I started with this recipe I pinned for Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole from Six Sister's Stuff.  I knew however I wanted to stretch the recipe so I Kimified it a bit... This was my final result:

Kim's Chicken Pasta Cordon Bleu

1 pound chicken diced cooked chicken breast

1 box tri-color rotini pasta

1 box Stove Top chicken stuffing mix (6oz) 

1.5 cups shredded swiss cheese

8 slices Sargento Ultra Thin swiss cheese

8 ounces deli ham diced

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup prepared dijon mustard

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare stuffing and pasta according to package directions.  Mix pasta, chicken, shredded cheese, ham, soup, milk and mustard together in a 9x13 casserole dish.  Layer swiss slices on top and then spread stuffing over it all.  Bake casserole for 45 minutes. 

Note: I actually marinated the chicken in 1/4 cup dijon mustard and 1/8 cup lemon juice overnight then sauteed the diced chicken before adding it to my casserole it gives a nice depth of flavor. 

This morning my Beauty wanted chocolate oatmeal for breakfast.  I have not bought packets of oatmeal in 6 months. I have been making my own. It is super easy and super CHEAP! I pinned the idea from Amylovesherlife. 

I actually got a great deal on 42 oz of Quaker Oats (2@$5) this past week.  I have a metric ton of Nesquik chocolate powder that I got a super deal on (50 cents!) so I have not had to buy chocolate powder in over a year (it expires in 2014 in case your curious).  I got the zip bags at the Dollar Tree and I reuse until I can't close them anymore (heh, I call it being green). 

Chocolate Oatmeal Packet
1/4 cup quick oats
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chocolate milk powder

Combine 3 ingredients in zip top baggie.  That's it.  Seal up the bags and be done.  I make 14 packs at a time we store them in a panda bear cookie jar with a hollow head. After I empty the packet in the bowl I put the empty bag in the panda head. 

To make the oatmeal, add 1/2 cup of milk or water and microwave for 1 minute. If it seems a little thick add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time.